Simi Valley woman celebrates life after liver transplant

Theresa Best (right) gives her daughter Taryn Best a hug recently in the kitchen of their Simi Valley home.

Ventura County Star

Makenna Cobey (from left), Tina Willard, Taryn Best, Theresa Best, Torey Best, Sandi Cobey, holding Best family dog Maya, and Mike Best pose for a portrait recently near the Best home in Simi Valley to celebrate the successful liver transplant of Theresa Best.

Ventura County Star

Taryn Best (left) and Makenna Cobey show their tattoos recently at the Best family home in Simi Valley. The women got the tattoos in support of Best’s mother, Theresa Best, as she awaited a new liver in 2011.

Ventura County Star

Mike and Theresa Best share a hug recently in the kitchen of their Simi Valley home. The couple is happy to have a future together now that she has a new liver.

Ventura County Star

If anyone knows about miracles, it's Theresa Best of Simi Valley, who was close to death when she received a lifesaving liver transplant a little over a year ago.

Best, 45, suffered severe liver disease due to a number of factors, primarily stress. She said that if it were not for her family pressuring doctors for her transplant, she probably wouldn't have gotten one. She had her transplant on Dec. 31, 2011, and is now doing well.

Best is sharing her story with the hopes that other people will get medical help as soon as possible and also take care of their body. She is one of 6,000 people in the United States who undergo liver transplant procedures every year and her case highlights the importance of preventive liver care.

"I'm very, very lucky. I'm a miracle," said Best, 45.

Her message? "Take care of your body and go to a doctor. If your stomach starts hurting don't ignore it."

Best's health troubles began in February 2011 when she began experiencing severe stomach pain. Best thought she was a developing an ulcer due to marital problems and stress. She gulped down antacids while becoming more ill and scared. Adding to her distress was the fact that her mother died in October 2011 at age 65, not long after Best's father-in-law died.

"I just went downhill from there," Best said. Her liver was expanded and Best grew critically ill. Her liver was further harmed by the fact she had begun drinking wine to help her cope, and she avoided seeing a physician. She never suspected liver damage.

Best's gastroenterologist in Thousand Oaks, Dr. Gilbert Simoni, said Best's drinking didn't cause that level of damage to her liver but it didn't help. He noted that common pain medications like Ibuprofen and acetaminophen (Tylenol) and some anti-depressants can cause liver damage, and so can obesity, rapid weight loss or gain, and autoimmune diseases.

Best, who was barely 100 pounds when she was hospitalized and lost many more pounds afterward, would have died without the transplant, Simoni confirmed. "She was very close. She was within hours if not days."

Best's sister, Tina Willard of Camarillo, refused to give up on her.

"They weren't going to tell me my sister didn't have a chance. We had just lost our mom. They mentioned hospice and I just said, ‘no.' There was never a time I thought she was going to die," Willard said.

Best never realized how sick she was, Willard said. "She was a sack of bones but she was a huge fighter."

Best was hospitalized at Los Robles Regional Medical Center on Dec. 8, 2011, with liver failure. Her family was advised to consider hospice care. Simoni got Best transferred to the Keck Medical Center of the University of Southern California, where she was told it could be up to six months to see if she improved enough before she could be placed on a liver transplant list.

Best's family members begged the USC staff to put her on the transplant list. Best, who was unconscious by this time, rallied slightly at the end of December when her medication was reduced so the transplant was performed. Through it all, her sister, her husband Mike and their two daughters, Taryn, 25, and Torey, 21, were by her side.

Today, Best takes five pills every morning and four at night, avoids fatty foods and tries to keep stress in check. She doesn't drive because of the effect of her medications.

Best and her husband renewed their vows last August in front of family and friends to celebrate a new, better life together.

"We both got brand new rings and got married on the beach at Pt. Mugu. It was the most beautiful wedding. Since that day it's been the best ever," she said.